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Research

Illinois foundation giving reached a record $3.8 billion in 2015, according to the latest Giving in Illinois report issued today by Forefront, in partnership with The Foundation Center. Giving in Illinois 2017 reveals the scope and giving priorities of the Illinois foundation community.

This report describes the needs for data among arts organizations and the priorities that funders may have in the area of arts-related data. The report is based on interviews with arts organizations and experts primarily in the Chicago area, and on discussions held at meetings of Chicago-area funders. The findings come from a modest sample, but they offer useful perspectives on how to provide arts organizations the data they need to achieve their goals. The research was supported by The Chicago Community Trust.

Point the Way is a project of the Capacity Building Funders Group, a group of 14 foundations that invest in capacity building resources for Chicago-area nonprofits. Their study, conducted with Learning for Action, details the findings of their research, as well as recommendations to revitalize the capacity-building sector in the Chicago area.

Policy discussions about grantmaking foundations often focus on how much they spend on administrative activities relative to their giving. Yet often missing in these discussions is an understanding of the nature and range of foundations' operating and administrative costs and what drives them. This publication provides a more informed perspective on this issue, defining and delineating charitable (program-related) administrative and operating expenses, which are those that count toward a foundation's payout requirement.

This report provides a set of recommendations and new tools that are useful to grantmakers and grantseekers in Illinois and elsewhere. It also tells the important story of Donors Forum's successful effort to convene grantmakers and grantseekers under conditions that allowed meaningful and honest relationships to develop -- to everyone's benefit.

This report identifies current (and recent past) results-focused, cross-sector, problem-solving work in metropolitan Chicago and throughout Illinois as well as select and illustrative models from other cities. It provides a landscape scan of exisiting collective action work in the state, and draws out common themes, lessons, and success factors from the initiatives.